Now that New Trainer is back, open enrollment is over, and the renovations are in a more reasonable place, I finally have time to get back in the saddle and start taking lessons again. I was so thrilled to be able to hop back up on Gus on Monday. It’s been almost a month since I’ve ridden him and about three weeks since New Trainer has been on him.
Let me tell you, those two training rides and then a break did him a world of good. He was so relaxed and so much softer in the bit then I remembered. I was thrilled. Monday we really just hacked around. I spent a few minutes in the arena but then went and explored the farm.
For my lesson on Wednesday, I was worried that the trainer effect would wear off but thankfully it didn’t. Because I took my stirrups off for the lesson, we worked a lot on transitions and me using my seat more to lift Gus up and into the transitions. The difference in when I got it right was awesome but now my core is very very sore. Still, it’s a good soreness and I’m looking forward to getting better.
Lessons and rides with Gus have been interesting of late. Jumping lessons and jump schools have been top notch. Dressage days? Not so much.
There are always good moments. Brilliant moments, actually, where I feel like a real dressage rider. Then there are moments where I will make a mistake (like accidently goosing him with my spur) and he will shut down. Sometimes we can get him back and sometimes not.
But that is something he will have to live with because I am an ammy and I’m still learning. I am going to do stupid shit sometimes and I need Gus to not block me out. We’ll get there.
Which leads me to the other issues with dressage lessons. They are just plain hard. New trainer expects a lot from me, which I appreciate, but it does show me just how many holes I have in my training. And it’s getting a little disheartening.
But it’s all worth it. Because those moments where it all does come together are amazing and do make me feel like I’m growing as a rider.
Sometimes it is just too hot for a proper ride. That’s when I hop on like this:
Yup, don’t even care about the redneck fugly of it all.
This was how we rode on Tuesday and it was an interesting ride to say the least… but it was a ride! That’s something I guess.
Last night was our first real lesson with LT and I am very pleased with how it went. The two times she’s coached me before we really just dived in and made it happen but now we were able to actually focus on where Gus and I are. I told her to expect more from me because that’s the only way I learn. I don’t want to be coddled and told I’m doing a good job when I’m not. I want to get better!
This weekend is the Elisa Wallace clinic and meet up with this awesome duo (quartet with dogs?!). Can’ wait!
I am finally getting over this dang cold! Had to cancel my lesson on Thursday because I couldn’t even talk and I let the boy have my lesson on Saturday with N. No surprise, he did fabulously. Dandy and Eric really get each other but it definitely makes me jealous.
I still went out, of course, and brought the golden pup with me. I figured with me on the ground it would be a good time to install some more barn manners in her. Harley is actually really good at the barn and she tries really hard to behave even when N’s puppy tries to tackle her. But this was Harley’s first time having to sit through a lesson and she was not happy about. Lessons are boring.
Dandy seems to be settling in well into his new stall. Not that I thought he wouldn’t but you never know with him. He’s stabled next to JLE’s Rolex horse, Jack. Jack is coming back after a bad injury so he’s not competing but JLE wants to do everything right. I hope Jack is a good influence on Dandy!
I had a lesson last night with N as JLE is down at Woodside. N is awesome for flat work lessons but Dandy did not make it easy for either of us. He was being really argumentative. We rode through and had some good moments with our leg yields. The only other problem though was that I was super sore from a new workout I had started that morning.
Note to self: it is not a good idea to start a new workout the morning of a riding lesson!
But anyway, I’ve started doing barre classes which are a high intensity ballet inspired pilates type class. It was insane. My legs were shaking all through class and today I am so so stiff. I can’t really lift my arms at all and every time I coughed or sneezed this morning my abs protested hard. But, it was such a fun class and I can already tell I’m going to be toned in no time if I keep going.
I don’t want to fall completely out of riding shape while Dandy is gone so on Wednesday I took a lesson with our barn manager, N, on one of the school horses named Traveler. I felt like a bit of a noob having to ask where Traveler’s pasture was but I suppose I have an excuse since I have not had a chance to ride any of the school horses.
It was a bit of a slow start but I ended up having a great lesson on the Trav man. His gaits feel all wrong to me. His trot is a lot more up and his canter is just awful. I was wishing for my Dandy Lion back, you can’t beat his rocking horse canter. But anyway, we worked on leg yields at the trot and then I got to do my very first ever canter leg yields! It was so cool.
The best part though, was that I actually felt like I could ride. Everyone says riding a green been makes you feel like a raw beginner but I think it’s easy to forget how true that is when that’s the only horse you ride. I was really feeling like my riding had gone majorly backwards, but once I was on a horse that allowed me to focus on me, things turned right back around. I’ve got another lesson with N and Travler this week and I think when JLE comes back I will try to do a lesson on one of her schoolies at least twice a month.
What a fun but totally crazy last few days itâs been. Work is getting super busy but I still find what Iâm doing rewarding and interesting, so I canât really ask for more. Though it would be nice if I didnât have to work and I could just be a professional Armature. Dreams, yes?
I had a lesson on Friday which was, I think, really productive. Even though weâre forced to work in the indoor because itâs dark so early now, I got to do a little pole work and jumping. Over the trot poles I really worked on tunneling Dandy straight and keeping the forward momentum, not letting him slow down through the middle. Same thing with the canter poles. JLE had me not worry at all about where Dandyâs head was and how collected he was, and just to worry about the connection and the forwardness. I think this helped a lot because we werenât constantly getting in arguments over how we should look.
Finally JLE put the jump to a small X and I just kind of lost it. I was throwing myself up his neck and letting him run out to the side after the jump instead of continuing in our straight line. JLE was a little confused and probably annoyed with me for just giving up over the fence and she had to really pound it into my brain that if Iâm nervous (though I shouldnât be because itâs just a little 18 inch X-rail and Iâve jumped way higher), I need to be thinking harder, be tighter in my core, and solid in my seat. Of course she was right but I just havenât had anyone remind me of that in a while. She hiked the jump up to just a little 2â vertical and this time I did my best to sit and wait and be tight over the jump. It was much improved.
The hardest part about this exercise wasnât the jump per say, but the fact that I was supposed to jump and then do a 20 m circle at the end of the arena to get Dandy collected. Dandy is having a really hard time with this because his neck is just way too long for his back. I had to really sit down on my outside seat bone and lift him up with the inside leg. I wasnât feeling much that night but on Saturday my ass was SORE.
Anyway, we talked about it afterwards and JLE wants me to take a few lessons on Archie who is one of her schoolies that used to jump GP levels and is a similar build as Dandy. Unfortunately heâs got a pretty busy schedule but I think we can work out somethingâĤ I hope so because JLE and I definitely think itâd be good to get on a horse who will teach me what itâs supposed to feel like. Itâs frustrating working with Dandy who just canât put himself together like Iâm asking.
Saturday I got up early to go to a tack sale and was very glad I did. I found a great maroon wool coolor for $25. Granted, it was mislabeled (which I suspected at the time) and is really probably a 75/76 instead of an 80/81 but it covers all but the last inches of Dandy’s butt and you really can’t beat that price!
Finally on Sunday it was Dandy’s favorite day ever: clip day! Okay, not really. I got to the barn bright and early to take advantage of the sun trying to peak through and gave him a bath. I honeslty thought about skipping it, thinking that he wasn’t too dirty. Really glad I didn’t because without any soap the water was just coming off him brown. Ugh.
Dandy is not as impressed with the new cooler as I am.
While I waited him to dry get less wet, I reaaranged my tackbox, changed the clipper blades and had some coffee. Finally I got too bored and it was getting too late so I had to dive in and start clipping. The only part that was really tough was the belly and that was probably more because Dandy was having a temper tantrum then because it was still damp. The damp hair on his side did make it hard to get the line I really wanted though.
I’m not quite as happy with the finish as I was with the job I did last year but it’s not really about looking good it’s about keeping cool. And ya know, it’ll do.
Lesson on Friday was good. Rode Dandy in his new bit but it was still a bit too long. Dang! I had no idea Dandy had such a narrow face. But JLE likes the bit so she’s going to buy it off me and I’ll get one that fits better. Dandy did go really well in it so I’m not against buying a properly fitting one even if JLE wasn’t going to be helping me out here.
We did all our normal stuff in lesson, working on getting him forward and round, using his back and going where I want. JLE had me ride just a foot off the track and to keep him there all the way around. Well, Dandy was like a ping pong ball between my legs. He’d drift towards the rail and I’d apply that leg but forget to keep him in place with the inside leg. Back and forth we went. It got better at the end but it took a lot of concentration on my part!
The new thing we’re trying to start working on is the stretchy circle at the trot. There was a moment after we finished our canter work where Dandy felt heavy in my hands in a good way. Where he wanted to take the contact and stretch down. Unfortunately I gave him too much rein too soon and we lost the contact. At least this gives me something else to work on.
Today JLE’s bodyworker, S, came out and I signed up Dandy. I was just amazed watching her work with my boy. Apparently he had his first rib out on both sides (which is probably why he’s still girthy), both stifles were so sore she was surprised that Dandy was allowing anything and he had four vertebrae out in his neck. Sorry big boy, I didn’t know you were hurting so badly! So he’s off for 48 hours to give him time to heal. S definitely thinks all of this may have been cause for his naughtiness and that wouldn’t surprise me at all. Hopefully he’ll start feeling better this next week.
This upcoming weekend is the last horse trial in area VII and we’re going as a non compete! Can’t wait to give Dandy a taste of what this is going to be like next year.
The past week or so has been packed full of fun things. I’ve been riding, working with the dogs, and hitting the job market hardcore. On that front things actually seem to be picking up as I’ve got an interview tomorrow. Here’s hoping that leads to more good things.
On the Dandy front, I think things are going really well. In our lesson last Thursday I felt for the first time what a nice soft, compacted, starting to collect canter is supposed to feel like and it was awesome! All I could say is “Oh, so *this* is what it’s supposed to be like.” It really makes me excited for the future because it is so nice. Dandy could only hold it for a few strides but that’ll get better. We have another lesson today.
Everyone from the barn has been at Inavale this past weekend so it’s been nice and quiet. I wish I could have gone but I didn’t have the funds to go down there for a whole weekend. Still, seeing the results is also adding to my picked up motivation. Although no one really came back with a ribbon they all did fantastic at dressage, which is Dandy and I’s weak point. It really speaks to JLE’s training that every student of hers (that I recognized) finished the dressage portion in the top 5.
The only thing that is left is getting Dandy and I over our show issues. The problem for me is that I go blank once he starts acting like that. I’m absolutely paralyzed by my fear. Dandy’s problem is that all the activity is just overwhelming. To help with that I found a local saddle club that hosts a bunch of different shows (in all sorts of divisions) and we’re going to be going to two of them a month: their western games show and their English/Western pleasure shows. I’m not even thinking about competing, I just want to go and pretend we’re going to show and teach Dandy that it’s not that big of a deal. The first one is this Saturday. We’ve got a few things to do before though, like pull manes… my favorite activity.
Took a little tumble today off Dandy in my lesson tonight. We were working on courses in preparation for the show on Saturday and Dandy was over jumping EVERYTHING. I felt like we were jumping everything terribly (or I was at least) and I’m sure that the over jumping wasn’t helping. On the first oxer of our course I made Dandy sit down and add a stride. He didn’t like that at all and gave me a nasty buck on the far side. That wasn’t what go me off though.
It was the very last jump of the course: a natural cross country jump. We came up to it and he jumped me right out of the saddle. I still probably could have saved it but on landing Dandy took a hard left and I was headed right. I landed on my feet and fell to my butt while Dandy just looked at me and said “What are you doing down there?”
I got back on and did the whole course again. Hopefully I won’t ride that badly on Saturday. I’m not sure what is up with me lately. I just feel out of sorts in my riding, like I’m not doing anything right. Oh well, we’ll figure it out. May do another lesson on Friday before the show. I think we need it.
Gray Horse Problems 